2013 Canadian Laser Masters Championship
Many thanks to Etienne for sending this great full report of the regatta! - Ralph
The Canadian Laser Masters championship was held out of
Beaconsfield yacht Club from June 14th to 16th.
This event is reserved to sailors 35 years old or
older. As only 3 of the 39 sailors were
under 45 (and none of them really competitive), it's really an old timer's
club. The people involved have more time
and are a dedicated bunch, speaking of the best places to train for heavy wind
during the winter.
The first day was light and shifty. Two races were held
and the third that was started was abandoned.
The wind was falling and some competitors were heading back in when the
wind returned from the North. I thought I
was in a good position, then I watched those boats exit the harbour area and
still pass me on their way to the first mark.
I was quite thankful for the abandonment of that race. Rob Koci was first at the end of the day with
Sally Sharp in second place.
On Saturday, races 3 and 4 were held in a building
breeze. The following two races were
held in a really strong breeze. Forest
from Texas could not recall such long upwind legs in such strong wind. Those
who recall CORK in Lasers on Bravo course felt right at home. I was feeling like a million dollars spending
the last half of the 5th race in tow behind Rob Koci. He was having his worst race of the regatta
and I was having my best. I was great to
see that I could keep up with him for so long.
I was doing as well in the 6th race when I dumped before rounding the
leeward mark. It was a very messy dump,
it took me 4 or 5 attempts to get the boat back up proper. By that time I had drifted below the
committee boat and had to start the race again, behind the whole fleet. I knew that it was worth finishing, as by
this time a third of the fleet had abandoned because of the windy
conditions. I passed a few tired
sailors, and I was really mad with myself for that nasty dump. Though it felt there was lots of space
between the boats, it was certainly quite close because the harbour was full at
the moment I came in. I hesitated, it
was 3:30 and I had been out since 9:00.
It's not that often that it's blowing over 20 and I don't have Noé and
Ulysse, my usual crew on the Laser. With
the kids, I stick to close reach, beam reach and broad reach. It's fast and impressive and the Laser flies
on these points of sail. When racing,
reaching ability is useless, races are won upwind and downwind. So I start doing some upwind, lots of tacking
and then gybing downwind, until I can do 3 gybes in a row without crashing. I head home 50 minutes later to greet a
worried race committee. I'll have to be
more specific next time and tell them I am going back out to have fun.
On Sunday, little wind, cold weather and rain were
forecast. When it was time to head out,
the rain hadn't started yet, there was no wind and it was still warm. Exposed skin is an advantage when feeling
very light air, so I started out with a splash top and shorty wetsuit. The first race was light and shifty, but the
temperature dropped significantly. It
also started to rain. We waited for an
hour in no wind, many of the competitors took their boats out of the
water. I also went in to change into
long john wet-suit, polar sweater and splash top. What a relief, but still difficult times for
a guy with glasses. I felt I was going
round and round, doing 3 penalties during that short race.
I was great to head back to Beaconsfield Yacht Club and
eat the delicious meal the club provided to the competitors after each day on the
water.
Thanks to the BYC team for such a good regatta.
Etienne Portelance
Here are the top ten. All the scores can be found here on the BYC website.
- Rob Koci, Water Rats SC, Grand Master
- Doug Peckover, NOMAD, Grand Master
- Tobin Young, Water Rats SC, Master
- Philippe Dormoy, Beaconsfield YC, Grand Master
- Richard Sewards, Water Rats SC, Master
- Pierre Jasmin, PCYC, Grand Master
- John Rae, Nepean SC, Master
- David Hartman, NOMAD Great Grand Master
- Nigel Heath, Water Rats SC, Master
- Len Guenther, Fishing Bay YC, Master
